Policy At-A-Glance: October 2024

The European Union’s Commission has proposed a delay in the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). “Given feedback received from international partners about their state of preparations, the Commission…proposes to give concerned parties additional time to prepare. If approved by the European Parliament and the Council, it would make the law applicable on December 30, 2025 for large companies and June 30, 2026 for micro- and small enterprises. Since all the implementation tools are technically ready, the extra 12 months can serve as a phasing-in period to ensure proper and effective implementation.

The Commission published additional guidance documents and a stronger international cooperation framework to support global stakeholders, Member States and third countries in their preparations for the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation.”

SGSF Policy Director says:

“Throughout the development, passage and implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), SGSF and our partners have been consistently vocal about the implementation challenges the law as envisioned would face in the United States. While we support the EU goal of reducing deforestation and forest degradation impacts from commodity production, we firmly believe all the data shows that the risk of this happening in the United States from forest products production is minimal. We appreciate the EU Commission recognizing that more time is needed to ensure that countries and companies can comply with the regulation while not creating unintended and unfair trade barriers.”

NACO | On September 25, the U.S. Senate voted 78-18 to pass a bipartisan Continuing Resolution (CR; H.R. 9747) to extend federal spending and avert a government shutdown through December 20, 2024. The U.S. House passed the measure unanimously by voice vote also on September 25, just days before the end of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 on September 30 and beginning of FY 2025 on October 1.

SGSF Policy Director Says:

“This Continuing Resolution (CR) extends federal funding at current levels through December 20th. Passing FY25 appropriations bills will hopefully be something Congress can take care of in the “lame-duck” Congressional session after November elections. Importantly, this CR did not extend the Farm Bill, which also expired on September 30. While many conservation programs were reauthorized through the Inflation Reduction Act, the impacts of an expired Farm Bill on commodities and other titles will become significant after January 1st, meaning Farm Bill will also be top of the to-do list for the ‘lame-duck‘ Congress.”

The National Association of State Foresters recently submitted comments on the U.S. Forest Service’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for old-growth forests. SGSF membership played a key role in developing this input, which advocates for keeping proactive management of old-growth forests (including the use of commercial timber harvesting) in the tool box to ensure forest health, wildfire resilience and biodiversity.

SGSF Policy Director Says:

“While we recognize and support the explicit recognition of the value of old-growth forests on the landscape, these comments reiterate concerns about a top-down Administration effort to inventory and manage old-growth forests across all federal lands. Local stakeholders including state foresters and USFS land managers are, and have always been, the most knowledgeable about appropriate management strategies in a given forest. We are firmly against any outcome of this effort that would lead to a national prohibition on commercial harvesting in old-growth areas as is supported by some stakeholders.”

Strategic Biofuels | Strategic Biofuels, a renewable fuels project development company, announced the publication of its free resource, “A Practical Guide to Forestry Feedstock Under the Renewable Fuel Standard.” This first-of-its-kind practical guide aims to help guide project developers in understanding the compliance requirements for forestry feedstock with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The publication was the culmination of work Strategic Biofuels conducted under a cooperative agreement signed with the USDA Forest Service (U.S. Forest Service) in 2022.

It is aimed at identifying the practical qualification requirements for forestry feedstock to aid in establishing a strong set of standards for the tracking system that enables the forestry feedstock sector to supply raw data that can accurately and conveniently be transmitted to the biofuel producer and validated by a third-party auditor for EPA compliance.

SGSF Policy Director says:

“SGSF appreciates the work of Strategic Biofuels, the US Forest Service and the Environmental Protection Agency to provide added market certainty through clarity of Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) feedstock eligibility. SGSF Policy Director Tim Foley served on the Advisory Board for this effort, providing a key voice for state foresters and the SGSF SUM Committee specifically. This work highlights what SGSF sees as an important market opportunity that needs to be realized.”

USDA Press Office | Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the Biden-Harris Administration is investing $100 million in 21 new projects to expand work on the USDA Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy to reduce the threat of wildfire in high-risk areas across the country. The new projects span 14 states and 18 national forests and are part of the $3.2 billion investment in this comprehensive strategy made possible through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program uses hazardous fuels funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to treat additional areas of high wildfire risk where national forests and grasslands meet homes and communities, known as the Wildland-Urban Interface. The program allows national forests, in collaboration with Tribes, communities and partners in qualifying states to build local capacity for projects to reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health.

SGSF Policy Director says:

“These Program awards represent the first major Wildfire Crisis Strategy funding delivered outside priority landscapes, all of which are in the West. Both SGSF and the US Forest Service Southern Region have been a consistent voice in making sure decision makers in Washington, DC recognize the importance of wildfire risk reduction work getting done in all geographies. Making sure areas in our region were eligible for this funding and seeing 4 different southern landscapes funded are the fruits of that hard work.”